Clodia Metelli: The Tribune's Sister (women In Antiquity)

__Clodia Metelli: The Tribune's Sister__ is the first full-length biography of a Roman aristocrat whose colorful life, as described by her contemporaries, has inspired numerous modern works of popular fiction, art, and poetry. Clodia, widow of the consul Metellus Celer, was one of several prominent females who made a mark on history during the last decades of the Roman Republic. As the eldest sister of the populist demagogue P. Clodius Pulcher, she used her wealth and position to advance her brother's political goals. For that she was brutally reviled by Clodius' enemy, the orator M. Tullius Cicero, in a speech painting her as a scheming, debauched whore. Clodia may also have been the alluring mistress celebrated in the love poetry of Catullus, whom he calls "Lesbia" in homage to Sappho and depicts as beautiful, witty, but also false and corrupt. From Cicero's letters, finally, we receive glimpses of a very different woman, a great lady at her leisure. This study examines Clodia in the contexts of her family background, the societal expectations for a woman of her rank, and the turbulent political climate in which she operated. It weighs the value of the several kinds of testimony about her and attempts to extract a picture as faithful to historical truth as possible. The manner in which Clodia was represented in writings of the period, and the motives of their authors in portraying her as they did, together shed considerable light on the role played by female figures in Roman fiction and historiography. Clodia, (born Claudia Pulchra Prima Or Maior Or Also Quadrantaria C. 95 Bc Or C. 94 Bc And Often Referred To In Scholarship As Clodia Metelli (clodia The Wife Of Metellus), Was The Third Daughter Of The Patrician Appius Claudius Pulcher And Caecilia Metella Balearica. She Is Not To Be Confused With Her Niece, Clodia Pulchra, Who Was Briefly Married To Octavian. Like Many Other Women Of The Roman Elite, Clodia Was Very Well Educated In Greek And Philosophy, With A Special Talent For Writing Poetry. Her Life, Immortalized In The Writings Of Marcus Tullius Cicero And Also, It Is Generally Believed, In The Poems Of Gaius Valerius Catullus, Was Characterized By Perpetual Scandal.--wikipedia. Genealogies Of Clodia Metelli And Her Siblings -- Cicero As A Biographical Source -- The Gens Claudia -- Women And Wealth -- The Claudii Pulchri -- The Metelli -- Palatine Medea -- Lesbia -- Conclusion : A Woman In A Man's World. Marilyn B. Skinner. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. Genealogies of Clodia Metelli and her siblings Cicero as a biographical source The gens Claudia Women and wealth The Claudii Pulchri The Metelli Palatine Medea Lesbia Afterword: A woman in a man's world.